Milky Way (Yes!) Over the North Sea

I realise I shall be stretching  your credulity, but the Milky Way , or a bit of it, is in this photo. Look one third of the way along from the right of the photo and you might be able to convince yourself that the Milky Way arcs downward from there towards the horizon in the middle. More visible if you view the photo at larger scale on a black background.

The weather forecast had predicted a clear night, the only clear night of the week, and new moon. A very good time to try and capture sight of the Milky Way. Besides, the dark sky map showed a clear patch between Anderby and Huttoft Bank, at Marsh Yard, which we had reconnoitred earlier in the day.

Len was keen to get out. He likes his bed. Sunset was shortly after nine. I'd told him the sky would not be dark for at least an hour afterwards, and so it proved. This photo was taken after 11 pm when it was not yet truly dark.  

Light pollution was level 2. Marsh Yard has no habitation nearby, but the lights of Skegness to the south and Mablethorpe to the north still interfere. 

We talked to a chap who had parked his campervan nearby, despite council restrictions, for almost an hour. He came on to the beach for a late night stroll.

I had been expecting  the Milky Way to arch over the sea to the east but suddenly, we saw it overhead. This meant that it was virtually impossible to get interesting foreground to feature in the photo, despite using the widest lens that I had. And that's why it looks so feeble in this shot because I chose to include the horizon over the North Sea, where it still glows red, partly because of the lights on the wind farms out at sea.

It was a lovely day. Marsh Yard is an idyllic location should you value peace and quite and a huge expanse of sea and sky. Len found a memorial to a lady  in the dunes, that had been left by her family.

The extra is of light falling on a yellow chair at The Fat Seagull, a restaurant at Sandilands, where we had a very relaxing and enjoyable lunch. Dogs can rest under the tables on the verandah, which Basil did.